ES-M grad is a contestant on Project Runway

Courtesy of Bravo TVJennifer Diederich and Tim Gunn on the first episode on "Project Runway's" Season 5.

Jennifer Diederich is finally getting a rare moment of rest and relaxation at her grandparents' house in Manlius.

Diederich, 27, a graduate of East Syracuse-Minoa and the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, made her national television debut Wednesday night on the fifth season of Bravo's hit show, Project Runway.

Diederich made it through the first challenge, in which the contestants had to design an outfit on a tight deadline made only from materials they picked up at the grocery store. Diederich whipped up a dress made of paper towels and lipstick.

While she can't tell us how she far she ended up going in the competition, Diederich was able to answer a few of our questions about her background and being on Project Runway.

A: When I was 14, I went on a trip to New York City with my family...and I pretty much fell in love with the city and decided, you know, that's where I wanted to live when I went to college and afterwards, and so I wanted to find a career that would give me enough money to live nicely in the city and also include art so I came up with fashion design.

Q: How would you describe your design style?

A: Holly Golightly attends a Salvador Dali exhibit, which I can explain a bit more. I kind of have a more vintage sensibility in my designs and my designs are fun and flirty and feminine. I never do pants. I only do dresses, tops and skirts and that's because I never wear pants, that's my personal style. And where the Salvador Dali thing comes in is that I like to add the idea of surrealism in my fashions. So it's not just another pretty dress, it also has a kind of tongue-in-cheek or joke on the outfit.

Q: Who are your favorite fashion designers?

A: I do like this designer from the '40s through the '60s, her name is Elsa Schiaparelli. Current favorites are Cynthia Rowley and Moschino, which is an Italian company.

Q: What kind of work were you doing before you were selected for Project Runway?

A: I moved to Italy after school and it took me a while to get a visa to live over there so I was kind of in limbo as far as a job. I was creating a few small collections to sell to a boutique outside of London. I ended up getting a job as an embroidery designer for Blumarine in Italy. ..I recently ended up starting my own line called "Suites." Now, I'm currently working on that and hoping that can become my career.

Q: How did you become a contestant on Project Runway?

A: Actually, this year was my third time trying out. I kind of felt like living over in a small town in Italy wasn't going to get me recognition here in the states. I just want some recognition and publicity here so people know who I am and want to buy my clothes. The third time, I was actually over here working on my collection so I said, 'Third time's the charm, let me give it another shot.'

Q: How did your family react?

A: They were shocked when they found out but they're super excited, they had no idea. I actually kept it really secret until it came out this week.

Courtesy of Bravo TVJennifer's paper towel dress from the first challenge in "Project Runway's" Season 5.

Q: Were you happy to just get through the first challenge or were you upset you were not in the top?

A: It was a moment of relief to be honest, being safe. You want to be recognized and you'd like to hear feedback about your designs, but it's kind of nice also to have made it through, and not being the first one kicked off is great. It would've been nice to be able to stay a little bit and talk a little bit more about my design because I was kissing the fabric. I had this idea, I used paper towels, and I like the 1960's and cocktail parties and things like that so I was trying to think of something to spruce it up because it was just white. So I tried to think of it as a dinner napkin, like the whole outfit, and so a women might wipe her mouth at a dinner party, so that was kind of the idea with the lipstick on the towels. I thought it was a cute idea.

Q: How difficult was it to sew paper towels.

A: It actually was super easy. And it was all paper towels; there was no muslin or anything, it was just held together like that. It was surprisingly easy and wearable.

Q: Were you relieved you didn't pick up a table cloth after seeing everyone else with their table clothes?

A: Yes, definitely.

Q: How hard is it when they give you your challenge, is at quick as you see on TV?

A: Yeah, it's all real. A half an hour actually wasn't too bad, it was definitely sufficient time for me.

Q: After watching the first episode, do you feel it portrayed accurately what you experienced for that challenge?

A: Yeah I do. It was like watching a home movie. It was definitely how it actually was living it.

Q: Were you nervous at all at the idea of being on national television?

A: Yeah, I think you can tell on the show that I'm pretty soft spoken and I don't know that I'm a huge character. I was terrified to watch it, but I wasn't terrified watching it.

Q:Have a lot of people come out of the woodwork and say that they saw you on TV?

A: Yeah, it's nice because I live in Italy and I don't get to talk to everyone here all the time so it's welcome. It's nice to see people from the past.

Q: Were you nervous about being on national television?

A: Yeah, because I think you can probably tell on the show I'm pretty soft spoken, and I don't know that I'm a huge character so I didn't know what to expect. I was terrified to watch it, but once I was watching it I wasn't terrified at all.

Q: After seeing you on TV, have people come out of the woodwork to contact you?

A: Yes..it's nice because I live in Italy and I don't get to talk to everyone here all the time, so it's welcome.